Me benchmarks seem a lil' low...

I'm running a clean install of WindowsXP MCE, 2GB ram, Omega Video drivers (default install) and a 160GB 5400 Hitachi hard drive.

Compared to another E1505 Core2Duo 2GHz:

(My scores are second)

3dMark05
1958
1870

Cinebench 9.5
325/592
268/534

SuperPi to 2m
1:02
1:18

Does not feel all that slow, but everywhere I look, it seems I'm on the lower end.

Any general tips to getting more speed?

With nothing open, I have 52 processes running, CPU is between 0-1-2-3% and PF usage is 304MB.

How can I keep some processes from firig up at boot? Intel Wireless looks like quite a few of them, and I generally have my Wireless Radio disabled.

 

To disable processes during startup, go to Start > Run > type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab and uncheck the processes that are not required.

Maybe you can also disable your antivirus and firewall, and then run the tests again.

 

Try this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

 

Sweetness.

I went thought msconfig and googled everything. Turned a few things off. Processes dropped to 42.

Then I followed eveything in Gophn's link.

My 3dMark05 went from 1870 to 1963
My SuperPi went from 1:18 to 1:02

Excellent.

However, using I8kfanGUI my CPU temp now hangs out around the 129 to 136 degree area, whereas before it was closer to 100. What exactly changed with the Hotfix and the registry edits? Is a ~130F idle CPU temp too high?

 

130F is a touch high, IMHO. I am not really sure why it would be at this temperature.

 

I prop the rear of the laptop up about 1/2" so it gets airflow.

What is dangerously too hot?

Yeah, my temp is in the solid and steady 130F range.

Let me see if I can trigger some low speed fan action.

Before this, the laptop was almost too cool. It was the coolest laptop I've EVER had.

 

The default fan triggers for I8fanGUI are 140F 158F 176F and 185F.

My temps def jumped from 100-102F to around 136F.

Idle or just using Firefox.

I can get the temp down but using the fan control, but, now my fan is just going off all the time. Before it never came on all. I can't live with that.

It def wants to sit at 129-136F, on a hard table, with the rear propped up 1/2".

My CPU now reports as 1994MHz whereas before it used to report ~1GHz.

 

Anything over 140F would have me really worried. But 130F is still a bit high if your notebook is just idling. Perhaps you should invest in notebook cooler or something. Perhaps this increase is due to the settings that you may have changed from Gophns link. Trying undoing them and see if the temperature drops.

 

Ok. This is better.

It looks like something got stuck. One core was pegged. doh!

Now it kinda wanders around.

It wanders up and down between 102F to 122F.

I don't hear any fan activity.

[edit]
Temperature increase was because 3dMark05 was getting stuck and pegging one core at 100%, or 50% total.

My Cinebench 9.5 scores went from 268/534 to 328/594

I recommend both purging your processes via msconfig, and applying the hotfix+registry/boot.ini edits.

My idle temp is higher than before, but seems acceptable wandering in the 102F-123F range.

My benchmarks are now in line with what I'm seeing for E1505/Core2Duo 2GHz, X1400.

 

Excellent, because I am applying that fix tonight >.>

 

Ok, applied it.

Everything seems great!

The CPU, when on the A?C adapter, is at 1.83 all the time. Is that another effect of the fix? When plugged in, it doesn't throttle back at all?

 

Mine throttles back still on AC power.

Do you have a stuck process keeping the CPU in use?

 

Hmm, no, CPU load is only at 7%, but fanguiI8k still says it's at 1831MHz...

 

Wow, I idle at 104F, but during 3DMark06, I hit 175...eeks...

 

count_schemula, gohanssjn, jetstar and others.

Regarding the temperature, I've posted up a response to a topic/thread right here, but I'll cross-post it here again (for the people who aren't aware of that other topic/thread):


According to Intel's specifications for the Core 2 Duo T7200 (sSpec: SL9SL), the thermal specifications is set at 100°C/212°F.

In fact, Intel lists 100°C/212°F as the thermal specification for their entire Core Duo and Core 2 Duo line of processors.

Intel also lists the catastrophic processor temperature for their Core 2 Duo range at 125°C/257°F (Section 3.4 - Catastrophic Thermal Protection of the Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor datasheet avaliable from Intel (.pdf file format))

Thermal specification is defined as:
"The thermal specification shown is the maximum case temperature at the maximum Thermal Design Power (TDP) value for that processor... For processors without integrated heat spreaders such as mobile processors, the thermal specification is referred to as the junction temperature (Tj)."

Catastrophic processor temperature is when the temperature has reached a level where potential irreversible damage might occur to the processor's silicon die, and that the THERMTRIP# signal should be activated to cut off Vcc supply "within 500ms to prevent silicon damage due to thermal runaway of the processor".

Simply put: as long as the processor stays below the thermal specificaion value, the built-in protection logic won't kick in and you won't get throttled back in speed. And as long as the catastrophic processor temperature is not reached there won't be any damage to the silicon die.

Also, almost all semi-conductor devices these days (i.e. CPUs) have an intended design life of at least 10 years, therefore, as long as it is below the quoted thermal specification value (100°C/212°F in the case of the Core Duo/Core 2 Duo), it will last that long.

Remember, most mobile processors these days are designed to run/handle higher operating temperatures, to rely on passive cooling for as long as possible without the fan kicking in to make for a quieter running system (which is desired in a notebook computer). People sometimes starts to panic when their mobile processor hits 80°C+/176°F+ running temperature, but to be honest, there is nothing to worry about. Plus Intel has for years implemented an excellent self-protection circuit which will immediately throttle the clockspeed to manage thermal dissipation levels before any long-term damage is dealt to the CPU core.

I'll only start to worry when the CPU is shooting up to past 85°C/185°F for prolonged periods, which usually means the heatsink or fan isn't doing its job.


F.Y.I., on my M1210 with the T7200, I get idle temperatures of around 45°C-55°C (113°F-131°F), and the fan only kicks in (at low speed) when it reaches 65°C (149°F). Under constant heavy loading it'll go as high as 80°C (176°F) on passive cooling before the fan kicks in and brings it back down to around 70°C-75°C (158°F-167°F).


In my opinion, if Intel have rated their mobile processors to have a useful thermal working enevlop upto 100°C/212°F for its intended design lifespan, do I want to manually force the fan on high just to have it stay, say, below 50°C/122°F but have to endure the fan noise/whine all the time? I'd say its not cause for concern and I'd rather have a quieter working system and let the BIOS handle when to regulate the temperature.

 

Great post. Solid info.

In my case I was idling at 136F due to 3sMark05 getting stuck open after it was closed.

The Hotfix + registry edit + boot.ini edit only seems to make the temp wander a little compared to before the mods, and for the most part, the increase is just a couple/few degrees.

Fan stays off, computer is quiet.

 

count_schemula, do you use the basic setup (bios controlled fans) or something like fanguiI8k?

 

Thanks for the good info, Angrymob!

 

I thought the x1400 scored better than the 7400, I have an m1210 with a t5600, gf7400 and 2gigs of ram, my 05 score is 2292, thats using dell's stock drivers

 

Does this include OC? that's a high score if it doesn't. I was able to get in that neighborhood after video card OC.

 

thats stock, and image quality set to high

 

I think X1400 is supposed to be better than the GF7300 that was offered on the E1505 for a while.

 

I use I8kfanGUI only to read temperatures at this point.

The fan is controlled by the laptop normally, and does not seem to come on very often. Laptop is nice and quiet. And my temps are ok, in the 102-118 range normally.

 

I was thinking of uninstalling fangui, maybe I'll just do that. Trying to get the processes down anyways. Thanks!

 

It's not a process when it's not running.

Right click on the temps in the system tray and Shutdown I8kfanGUI.

It's pretty lightweight and it provides good information.

I do not have it running all the time, just when I want to see temps.